Backfired
by NakedMoleDogg
Summary: A twist to the episode, "Fanning the Flames", where a certain Fenton device makes an early appearance. This is for all the Ember fans out there. Rated T for future content, to be safe. Now uploaded, Chapter 1: Setting the Stage
1. Summary, Details, & Acknowledgements

**Backfired, **by NakedMoleDogg

Acknowledgements:  
First off, I give credit to my beta-reader, Amorye, for her help in making this story what it is so far. Next, I credit the makers of Danny Phantom, for I am not worthy of claiming them as my own.

Summary:  
Fans of DP will remember the brainwashing rocker, Ember McLain, from her debut episode, "Fanning the Flames." After seeing all the episodes, I had an idea to combine aspects of different episodes together and see what I can come up with. This, my first idea, includes the basic storyline of "Fanning the Flames" with the addition of a certain device from a later episode. It really isn't too hard to guess, but I'm still not going to reveal it. You're just going to have to read for a few minutes to find out!

Details:  
At the end of the first chapter, and any subsequent chapters to this/other stories, I will give a poll that the reader can vote on. The rules are, only one vote at a time (I will be keeping track of the voters, and casting more than one will disqualify you), you need to give a reason why you voted that way (better reasons may increase my consideration), and you need to post a review for that chapter (even if it is just a compliment or beating me with a soap-on-a-rope). If you do not wish to reveal your decision, you may send me your vote in a private message or email and I will respect your privacy.

You may suggest details for the next chapter in your review/email/private message.

First chapter I will post immediately after this thingy.

Amorye, I accepted just about all of your suggestions, and compromised on the rest. I hope you like the final copy. Remember, you get a vote too!

And many thanks to all of you supporters out there! If not for you, I'd probably be doing homework or something – you have saved me from the curse of monotony and boredom!

No more stalling from me, move onto the first chapter of "Backfired". I hope you enjoy!

Sincerely,

NMD


	2. Chapter 1: Setting the Stage

_A/N: For the sake of repetition, I advise the reader to watch Danny Phantom episode 11, "Fanning the Flames," before reading this, if they have not done so already. I will write out enough of the episode to let the reader know where each addition or change to the storyline occurs._

* * *

"Attention, freakishly-dressed teen idol! I order you to cease and desist!" Mr. Lancer yelled into his megaphone while pointing an authoritative finger into the air. He was standing on a fire hydrant outside Casper High in order to get a clear view of the teen rocker on her mobile stage over the crowd of students.

"Desist this, Grandpa!" Ember yelled back, her voice amplified. She turned a knob on the front of her purple electric guitar, and fired a power chord at the audience. The visible sound wave washed over the crowd, their eyes turning red as they heard the chord. They closed in on Mr. Lancer, who immediately recoiled in fear.

"Pride and Prejudice!" he exclaimed.

Danny and his friend Sam were watching the event from the entrance to the school.

"Ember's the ghost? Oh my gosh," Danny thought out loud, while transforming into his ghost-fighting self. "I've gotta save Lancer! Wow, this is bittersweet." he added. With that, he flew into the air toward his teacher.

Mr. Lancer threw his hands out in front of himself as the mass of teenagers marched after him. Just before the crowd could reach him, Danny had placed his hands on Mr. Lancer's back and turned them both intangible.

The crowd rushed right past where their bodies used to be. They became tangible again, and Danny flew towards Ember.

"Now to knock the pop princess off the..." Danny started, but before he could finish, Ember and her stage had disappeared completely. "...chart?"

The dazed crowd snapped out of their mind-controlled trance, and wandered about aimlessly. Sam, still by the school entrance, picked out Tucker in the crowd and walked up to him.

Realizing Ember was gone, Tucker said sullenly, "Hey! No encore? What's that all about?"

* * *

"So, Danny, how do you plan on catching Ember?" Sam asked, pulling a soda from the refrigerator in the Fenton's kitchen. "We have no idea when or where she'll turn up next."

"Well," Tucker began, "being Ember's number-one fan and all, I happen to know that she's going to be giving out free concert tickets at Bucky's Music Mega Store tomorrow."

Danny and Sam gave him questioning glances. "Hey, be thankful that I subscribed to Music News Magazine. This kind of info isn't common knowledge, you know."

Jazz walked in just as he said this.

"Hey, you guys. Have you heard? Ember is giving away concert tickets at the Music Mega Store tomorrow."

Both Danny and Sam glared at Tucker, then looked back at Jazz.

"Jazz, maybe you couldn't tell when she was at the school," Danny said, "but Ember's a ghost who uses her music to hypnotize you and the rest of the teenagers into liking her."

"Danny, just because you don't have good taste in music, doesn't mean you should criticize me for liking it."

"Seriously, it's true! Right, guys?" Sam nodded her head, then elbowed Tucker until he nodded too.

"Okay, if she's a ghost who can hypnotize people, how come you guys are unaffected?"

"Tucker isaffected like you are, but I...wasn't around to get hypnotized, and I gave Sam these Fenton Phone earrings that filter out ghost noise," Danny replied.

"Aww, you gave her earrings? You two make such a cute couple," Jazz giggled.

"We are not a couple!" Danny and Sam exclaimed together. They both looked at each other, then quickly looked away, their faces turning an identical shade of red.

"You two need to stop doing that. It's not helping your argument." Tucker said.

"Back onto the important topic: Ember is a ghost. Her hair acts like fire, which I have to admit is pretty cool, but not human." Danny said firmly.

"Okay, then, what are you guys going to do?" asked Jazz.

"If we are going to take her down ourselves, we might want to use some of Mom and Dad's ghost-hunting equipment. We should go downstairs and see what we can find."

The group- except for Jazz, who was more interested in her homework, and didn't really believe them anyway- went down to the Fenton's basement, where all the ghost-hunting equipment was made, fixed, trashed, recycled, destroyed, and on rare occasions, kept. They each picked a side of the room to rummage through.

"'Ecto-Dejecto. Spraying a ghost with this will cause them to wither like a raisin in the sun,'" Sam read. "Strange, raisins are already withered by the sun."

"'Fenton Flash Powder. This explosive dust creates a flash of light for blinding ghosts.'" Tucker read as he reached for a small bit of it. "'Avoid contact with–'"

_POP_! The powder ignited between his fingers with a sudden bang. When the smoky air cleared from his soot-covered face, Tucker finished, "'...*cough* skin.'"

Danny opened a large cupboard and found what looked like a backpack with a couple of round speakers on top. "Hey guys, look at this. It hasn't been named yet, but the notes next to it say that it is designed to reverse ghostly frequencies. This could be useful if Ember tries to hit us with one of her brainwashing sound waves."

"Yeah, if we reverse her sound waves, she'll end up hitting herself. It's perfect!" Sam said as the group huddled around the find.

"Along with the Fenton Thermos, this should be all we need."

Sam looked over all their equipment with a gut feeling that something might go wrong. "Danny, do you really think this will work?"

"I hope so. She's only one ghost, and there's three of us. We have an advantage."

"Yeah, don't worry Sam." Tucker jumped into the conversation. "Danny's handled worse before. Besides, it's pop music, not death metal."

* * *

The following night, Ember and Danny were hand-wrestling on the roof of the Music Mega Store. Below, the concert audience was chanting for her, still entranced by her music. Danny struggled to push Ember away, but she was growing more powerful.

"Chanting," Danny huffed, "makes her stronger."

"You got that right, baby-pop." Ember said, smirking as both her strength and confidence grew. "And the more kids chanting, the stronger I get."

At that, she whipped him around and flung him into the oversized wooden cut-out of herself, knocking it over. Danny hovered to avoid falling with it. Danny landed back onto the ground and they began to circle each other, until Danny was between Ember and the stairs leading down from the roof.

"You think I'm strong now? Just wait until midnight, when my concert goes global and the whole world's chanting my name! Then you'll all be my slaves!" Ember continued with her banter.

Just then, Sam appeared from the stairwell behind Danny, equipped with the Fenton Frequency Flipper.*

"Get away from him!" she yelled.

"Aww. Teen love," Ember cooed with a lovey-dovey expression on her face. "They say it never lasts."

She pulled her guitar in front of her, then glanced over the edge of the building at the chanting crowd.

"But nothing distracts teenagers more than hormones, and I need to keep you busy for the next eight hours." Ember turned the dial on her guitar to point at a heart-design. "Now that they're chanting my name, my music can affect you!"

Ember prepared to strum a power chord. This was Sam's cue to activate the Flipper, and with a press of a button, the speakers hummed to life.

"How about a love song!" Ember yelled, slamming down hard on the guitar strings and emitting a purple ghostly ray. Before Sam could react, Danny charged at Ember, ducking under the purple wave just before he could reach her. Sam fired the Flipper's ray that came out of the speakers, redirecting the power chord back at Ember. The rocker's eyes went wide as she realized her music was being used against her. She stepped back as the chord washed over Danny and herself.

Both dizzy from the resulting confusion, Danny and Ember fell over, side by side. They clutched their foreheads to help recover from the disorienting spell. Once their eyes came into focus again, they saw Sam with a worried expression on her face. Then they looked at each other.

That was all it took.

Sparks connected between their eyes. For what seemed to them like a lifetime, they stared at each other, both of their eyes glazed, until Danny stood and offered his hand to her with a true smile. Ember smiled back and accepted it, helping her to her feet. Standing face to face, Danny was clearly a couple inches taller, disregarding her now wildly flickering hair. Ember's eye make-up had mysteriously vanished, revealing a fair complexion despite the ghostly pale color of her skin.

Nonchalantly, he said, "Hi, I'm Danny."

Shyly, Ember broke eye contact and stuttered out, "H-hey, I'm..." Her hands trembled as she strapped the guitar on her back. He lifted her chin, their eyes reconnecting.

"Ember." Danny finished for her in a whisper that raised the hairs on the back of her neck, and steadied her hands with his. Ember's ponytail flared up even more spectacularly.

Sam stood witness in a mix of awe and confusion. "What the heck just happened? Shouldn't you two be fighting each other?"

The rocker and the halfa kept their eye contact this time, without making a sound.

"Danny, what are you doing? Say something!"

Danny and Ember, as though linked mentally and without looking away, each lifted a hand pointedly at Sam with their own distinctively colored auras. Danny's green aura appeared around Sam, pulling her back into the stairwell, while Ember's turquoise aura closed the door and held it fast. Sam pounded on the door, but it wouldn't open.

"So, what brings you here?" Ember asked sweetly.

"I believe you were trying to take over the world," Danny responded.

"Why would I want to do that, when my whole world is standing right in front of me?" Ember leaned in closer.

Danny smiled.

"What are you doing later tonight?"

"World domination can wait. Tonight, I want to be with you."

"Alright, how about dinner? I know a place that you might just like."

"I'm all yours, Danny-Pop." She put both arms around his waist, and Danny flew them both off the building. She gazed in admiration at how the moonlight made his face glow with an aura as white as his flawless muss of hair, wavering in the breeze.

Sam was just about to give up when the resistant aura suddenly disappeared. She burst through the door just in time to see the two flying away.

"Danny..." she trailed off, and sobbed loudly, as she watched the first boy that she ever liked leave her, stranded and alone, for someone else.

**End Chapter 1.**

* * *

_*I know it's actually called the Maddie Modulator, but the name is not introduced until the episode "Girl's Night Out." Therefore, the name is my own choosing for this story._

_A/N: Thanks everyone for reading through this, my first chapter in the "Backfired" storyline! Hope you all enjoyed. Please rate/review, and don't forget to send your vote for who gets Danny in the end! Voting ends May 31st. Remember, only email votes count, and I do keep track of who has already sent me their email._

_Very special thanks go out to Beta-Reader "Amorye," who tirelessly helped me avoid cheesy mistakes in the romantic stuff, and for being an all-around excellent reader. Thanks, Cath!_

_-Peace out all, (^_^) ,\/,,_

_NMD (or JD)_


End file.
